As adults, we know all too well that lessons are everywhere, in every moment. Wherever we’re at in life, there’s always something to learn. Whether we’re at home engaging with family during game night, at the grocery store navigating masks and social distancing, interacting with our friends and family at a park or connecting with nature in an old-growth cedar forest, learning happens everywhere. In every moment, in every place, there’s something to witness, understand or get curious about.
At SelfDesign, at the core of our Kindergarten to Grade 12 online learning school, is the belief that learning happens all the time, and the learner is always at centre. Learning stems from curiosity and each individual learner’s passion and interests. There’s a paradigm shift when learning comes from the learner, with the support of an educator, rather than someone telling the learner what to learn.
SelfDesign learners are living proof of what’s possible. One learner, pre-COVID, travelled around South America with her family and visited Costa Rica, Cuba, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador; completely immersed in different cultures, languages and activities. Another learner spends her summers travelling around B.C. in an RV with her family learning about biology, history, math and physics by exploring the mini worlds and ecosystems around them. Other learners gain so much from building a fort in their backyard or inspecting a spider and its web in a window frame. The list goes on.
Nikki Kenyon, Principal of SelfDesign Learning Community, says if we define learning as interacting in relationship with your environment and the people in your environment to make meaning, then learners at SelfDesign fully engage in learning everywhere.
“Our program is designed to help learners notice and act upon the learning moments wherever they occur: in their homes, in their neighbourhoods, in their kitchens, in nature,” said Kenyon. “Then our educators assist them to make sense, expand upon and grow their understanding as a result of engaging in these learning moments.”
Learners at SelfDesign are guided by a B.C.-certified educator called a learning consultant. They follow the B.C. curriculum but in a way that stays true to SelfDesign’s philosophy.
Learning Consultants are guides and mentors who follow the lead of the learner. If the learner has questions or concerns, the learning consultant is there every step of the way to help them answer the question, provide resources and so much more.
Learners are also supported with online forums and can engage and connect with peers through real-time online meetings. Although each learner is in their own location, wherever that may be, they are connected, supported and learning where they are.
When learners take ownership of their learning and feel the freedom to explore the world around them, this can be a life-changing shift for themselves, their families and education as a whole.
Want to learn more? Check out this video to learn more about the magic of learning wherever you are.
